Canon announces EOS R1 full-frame mirrorless camera

Canon today announced the EOS R1, a full-frame mirrorless camera and its first flagship EOS R system camera.

“Canon’s top-of-the-line “1 series” professional cameras have supported professional users for over 50 years, evolving to stay at the forefront of users’ needs and technological advancements. The EOS R1 carries this legacy into a new era, empowering users to take the mastery of visual expression to a whole new level.” said Ichinomiya Takashi, Director of Regional ICB Sales & Marketing Division, Canon Singapore.

The EOS R1 utilizes a 24-megapixel back-illuminated (BSI) stacked CMOS sensor, enhancing images to an impressive 96-megapixels with its In-Camera Upscaling technology. With the new Accelerated Capture image processing system, featuring the innovative DIGIC Accelerator alongside DIGIC X, processing speed and power are increased.

There are also features such as In-Camera Upscaling and Neural Network Noise Reduction now executable in-camera, the EOS R1 supports fast-paced, time-sensitive workflows.

The EOS R1 is Canon’s first camera to feature the next-generation Dual Pixel Intelligent AF system. This system leverages the Accelerated Capture image processing system’s powerful processing speed and power to achieve AF and subject detection performance.

The Action Priority AF mode detects crucial actions such as shooting, passing, and heading, specific to soccer, basketball, or volleyball. Details such as ball position, players’ joints, and the presence of multiple people will be analyzed. Once such actions are detected, the AF frame automatically switches to the subjects performing these actions, capturing those split-second decisive moments that might be missed.

The new In-Camera Upscaling function uses deep learning algorithms to quadruple the number of pixels in an image while preserving details and image quality, to achieve as if they were shot on a 96-megapixel camera.

Image noise can become more apparent when images are magnified, but this will be addressed by the new in-camera Neural Network Noise Reduction function to improve image quality further. 

The EOS R1 features a 5-axis In-Body IS (Image Stabilizer), with a newly designed mechanism and improved algorithms. When shooting with a compatible RF lens with in-lens stabilizer, users can expect up to 8.5 stops’ equivalent image stabilization.

The EOS R1 can shoot high-speed bursts at up to 40 fps with the electronic shutter and up to 12 fps with the mechanical and electronic first-curtain shutter. It also comes with pre-continuous shooting for stills and pre-recording for videos. The pre-recording function captures up to 20 frames before the shutter button is fully pressed and can be combined with Action Priority AF or Register People Priority. It also captures a scene up to 5 seconds before recording video and stops recording when there is a change of scene.

The EOS R1 is also designed for seamless control and operation, enabling better responsiveness to dynamic situations. Eye Control AF, which allows users to control the AF frame with their eyes has been improved with new line-of-sight optics and detection algorithm, allowing for a faster, more reliable line of sight detection. The 9.44 million-dot, 0.9x magnification blackout-free EVF, which offers the highest definition and magnification in the EOS series, ensures that users get a large, bright, clear, and uninterrupted view of their subject and should satisfy even the DSLR users. An anti-fog structure in the EVF prevents fogging even under hot and humid conditions.

Several new design and interface features provide more shortcuts for instant recall of stored AF settings, allowing faster user response to changing shooting conditions. These include:

• Focus preset, a function previously available only on super telephoto lenses that enables any camera button to be assigned to set the focus to a predetermined focus position so users can set focus instantly on a desired area.
• 2-level AF-On button functionality, where the AF-On button can be assigned to change different settings when half-pressed and fully pressed.
• Ability to register and recall different AF settings for different activities and shooting situations preregistered by the user.

Two CFexpress Type-B slots support steady high-speed recording of data-intensive files, such as 6K 60p RAW videos and 40 fps full-resolution burst images, to either card, with the other card available for simultaneously recording still images and proxy video files.

With dual shooting function, users can simultaneously record Full HD 60p videos and 16:9 JPEG, approx. 17.8-megapixel still images.

The EOS R1 is built with a magnesium alloy exterior, making it 23% lighter and 11% smaller than the EOS-1D X Mark III. It maintains an impact-resistant build and has dust- and water-resistant weather-sealings.

The Canon EOS R1 is the first EOS system camera to support the new Wi-Fi 6/6E wireless protocol in addition to the existing 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz bands, allowing for faster wireless file transmission to a smartphone, PC, or FTP/FTPS/SFTP server. It also supports the new high-speed 2.5GBase-T wired LAN protocol to existing wired LAN support. 

Other features that will benefit professional media workflows include:

• • More precise deep learning-based metering
    The combination of smaller metering zones and expanded deep learning applications enables improved white balance and autoexposure accuracy across various scenes. Thus, photographers can rely more on the camera to produce accurate skin tones and sky colors, as well as more vivid greens. 
    
  • Blurred/out of focus image detection
    This function analyses and scores blurred and out-of-focus JPEG/HEIF images with people’s faces shot using the electronic shutter. It streamlines reviewing and selects the best images from the tremendous number captured by the high-speed electronic shutter, allowing photographers to upload their images sooner.
  • Powerful industry-standard video options
    Besides its 6K 60p internal RAW video capability, the EOS R1 adopts many advanced video features shared with the Cinema EOS, such as Canon Log 2 and 3, false colors, and proxy recording. It is also the first EOS series camera to include the Custom Picture colour presets and support for in-camera LUT applications, previously exclusive to Cinema EOS cameras.

Greater usability with Speedlites
The EOS R1’s faster sensor readout speed enables flash photography support even during continuous shooting in the electronic shutter mode. The flash sync speed is the EOS R series’ highest at 1/400 sec, allowing more flexibility to use a wide aperture or freeze action without resorting to high-speed sync.